But though they’re unfamiliar with each other, it doesn’t mean they can’t work together, and in Splinter Cell: Conviction’s online co-op mode, the unlikely duo of Third Echelon spy and Russian Voron agent seems set for success. The way Patrick Redding, Ubisoft Montreal’s lead co-op designer, describes it, the whole process of getting to know each other is at the heart of this mode’s story and its creation.

The story-based campaign is a prequel to Sam Fisher’s single-player adventure. In the co-op mode, the U.S. and Russian governments are looking for stolen electromagnetic pulse devices. The authorities task Archer, an American, and Kestrel, a Russian, with finding out who is behind the theft and retrieving the weapons. At first, the spies are wary of each other.

“Archer’s character is more sarcastic,” said Redding. “He’s more of a daredevil, enjoying what he does. Kestrel’s more fatalistic, more like Sam Fisher.”

But after going through the co-op mode’s four maps, the two eventually develop a mutual respect for one another. Redding pointed out that Ubisoft Montreal did something similar with the voice actors. They threw two people who never worked with each other in the studio and watched as they went from complete strangers to two actors who developed a rapport.

On another level, Ubisoft Montreal hopes that gamers who tackle the co-op mode travel on that same story arc. Redding imagines random strangers meeting online like Archer and Kestrel and working together to achieve a common goal.

In the level I played with game tester, Alex Ferland, Archer and Kestrel had to infiltrate an underground intelligence archive in Moscow. The co-op mode uses the same presentation that players experience in the single-player campaign. They’ll see objectives displayed on walls. In this case, Archer and Kestrel both had to plant bombs to blow a hole in the lair.

From there, the co-op gameplay went into effect. We moved slowly through the rail area. Ferland drifted left and I climbed atop of a box car. Redding said the pillars of the game are this: prepare, execute and vanish. That’s the gameplay loop that players should strive for. Of course, a teammate can go all Rambo on a level, but that actually makes it harder for everyone.

What players are supposed to do is eliminate an enemy via stealth takedown. This rewards them with an execute. These are basically insta-kills that players activate after marking a foe. All they have to do is press Y and the deed is done. In co-op mode, players can share these marks and executes, giving teammates angles and locations that they may not have had before.

For example, after sneaking up behind a guard and holding him hostage, I was allowed to move through a metal detector without setting it off. I then offed the foe before stepping into a room full of offices. I climbed the walls and shimmied over one side, getting a good angle on more soldiers. I marked them and had an angle that my partner, who was hiding behind a column, didn’t have. I asked if he wanted to do a duel execute. He was down.

In less then five seconds, we cleared that part of the room with silenced bullet fire. Of course, being a newbie, I did have some missteps. Later in the room, I ended up trying to sneak behind one guard and found myself in a chokehold and held hostage by a man I once thought my prey. Ferland rushed to the rescue and we were caught up in one of those classic movie situations. He aimed his gun waiting for an opening and by pressing a button I elbowed the enemy leaving a window of opportunity. He blew that guy away.

Of course, this organic form of gameplay can result in some interesting and unforseen situations. Redding recalled one moment when he played with a journalist who lost all his health and feigned death. On his way to rescucitate his partner, an enemy caught Redding from behind. This could have been grounds for an immediate game over. (Archer and Kestrel both feign death when they become incapacitated and wait for their partner’s aid). But Conviction let the scenario play out and the person feigning death sat up and shot the hostage-taker ending a potential standoff.

Nothing as dramatic as that happened while we played. After that hiccup, Ferland and I systematically whacked the rest of the enemies in the offices and hit the second the room. This is where he introduced another layer of gameplay. Instead of going through the room on the ground, he chose a separate path and climbed to the ceiling, hiding above the guards in the rafters. He turned on his sonar googles and saw all the enemies who were approaching me.

For all intents and purposes, Ferland turned into a human UAV. He marked everyone below him and I was able to take some out. When I got overwhelmed a little, he jumped in to help out. In this part of the campaign, Archer and Kestrel both had the ability to store three executions, but Redding hinted that the number could go up. Players can complete challenges and earn points for upgrades, weapon accessories and gadget efficiencies. There’s even the ability to customize uniforms and add armor.

Toward the end of the demo, Ferland and I were brought back together again. We had to pry open a door together. Redding said that Ubisoft Montreal used these moments to bring players who may take separate paths together again.

After entering this last room, we found our target and entered one of those interrogation modes. I took this Russian through an intimate tour of his office. I started first with a safe, then went to the printer. His face got up close and personal with the furniture like this teacher and a cast member of Jersey Shore.

While I was interrogating, Ferland stood watch until eventually we had to leave the space. Unfortunately, someone set off an alarm and he had to take care of business while I put the Russian in a chokehold and dragged him over to the retinal scanner.

I was going to shove his face into the reader when he outflanked and held me hostage. And that’s how the demo ended with Archer and Kestrel in an untenable position.

Once players finish the single-player campaign, there’s more conventional matches available. One is called Hunter, where players eliminate a set amount of foes on a level. Another is called Last Stand, where players have to survive waves of assault while protecting a target. There’s Infiltration, where players have to kill hostiles without being detected. Lastly, there’s Face-off, which is a spy vs. spy affair, where teams of two compete against each other with enemy AI.

There are six maps for these modes, and it’s important that players use the last-known position feature to play cat and mouse with the AI. It’s one way players can gain the advantage in Face-Off. You can actually lure enemy AI to a rival and cause one hell of a ruckus.